Phonics as an Observation of Beauty

I do not intend to make any sort of statement here about the "right" way to teach reading or phonics.  I'm not taking pot shots at sight words or a whole language approach.  I'm not advocating any particular scope and sequence, any methodology or curriculum.  What I'm doing, instead, is just sharing those "That's so cool!" moments that happen as I work and read with my kiddos.  In fact, instead of just sharing our moments with you, what I'd really love is to give you some jumping off points to help you to have some of those moments in your own home - with your own children or all by yourself as you enjoy a good book or just ponder our crazy, fantastic English language!

I've created a page called Phonics Investigations (see the tab at the top of the blog) with the basics of this post where I can add links as they are created so that you can access - all in one place - these fun phonics "experiments".  I'm also going to create a post on suggested resources and another one on how to implement the investigations.  I'm planning to post about one additional idea a week, but we'll see how that goes.

I'd love for this to be an interactive activity.  Perhaps you can share in the comments of each activity what your kids discovered!  Also, if you have questions, or (probably more likely) if your kids have questions, like "Why do we spell it that way?" or "Why is that a rule?" please let me know!  I'm not an expert.  But I am kind of a dork about this, and my kids have sort of latched on to that enthusiasm, so we would be thrilled to "product test" a new investigation and share it with you!

If you haven't already done so, please sign up to receive posts by e-mail (see the box on the right-side of the blog?) so that these investigations (and other ideas) can pop up right in your inbox!  Happy investigating!